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‘Water purifiers not for patients but for docs, babus’

The water purifiers sanctioned by the state government for providing pure water to the patients at government hospitals have not been installed in the patient’s wards and are fitted to benefit babus only.

The new water purifiers at Government Medical College and Hospital Jammu (GMC&H) have been installed at such locations that they can only benefit doctors and other officials of the hospital and no water purifier has been installed in patient wards.

According to the highly placed sources the present government of Jammu and Kashmir via department of health has sanctioned the installation of water purifiers and new water coolers for GMC&H Jammu as the hospital was facing public embarrassment due to poor drinking water facilities despite being major hospital of the province.

But the sanctioning of water purifiers and water coolers failed to provide fresh and pure water to the patients admitted or visiting the hospital as instead of installing them in wards they have been installed deliberately at the office of Executive Engineer, Canteen, Ortho Operation Theatre, Library, near Police Post GMC&H and at Chest Disease (CD) Hospital of GMC.

Sources disclosed that all the four wards of the GMC&H usually remain over crowded with the patients but despite this neither water cooler were replaced nor were water purifiers installed over there. The water cooler and purifier installed at the office of executive engineer Ashok Singh is enough to understand the entire episode as there was no purpose of installing them in the office of executive engineer as they were purely sanctioned for the welfare of patients, not the officials.

When contacted Dr R.R. Paul, Medical Superintendent GMC&H Jammu, said that he is unaware of the matter and assured to personally review the installation of water purifiers and coolers in the hospital and will punish those whosoever will be found guilty. Though when tried to contact executive engineer Ashok Singh all the calls made remained unanswered.